Character Analysis
Captain America's superpowers are the least super—and the least powerful—thing about him. These superpowers—snazzy shield aside—basically amount to being stronger, faster, and better. (Yawn.)
It's who he was before he became Captain America that's so amazing.
Captain America was a stand-up guy—a dude who always followed his conscience, fought for what was right, and looked every problem right in the eye before rolling up his sleeves and getting to work. That's why he was chosen for the Super Soldier program, and that basic decency hasn't changed at all.
On the Outside, Looking In
Maybe Steve's so uber-decent because he's always been an outsider (and not because he dresses up in star-spangled long johns, either). He was an orphan kid who didn't have two pennies to rub together, and besides his buddy Bucky—who we deal with in an entirely different set of movies—he doesn't really have any friends.
Also, he knows what it's like to live as a weak guy: he used to be ninety-eight pounds soaking wet and had a stunningly diverse series of debilitating conditions that basically called a general strike on his immune system.
But he still had guts. And courage. And brains. In short, he had the moral fiber that superheroes are supposed to have before he was anything even close to being a turbo-charged crimefighter. But once his spidey-senses were activated—whoops, wrong weakling-turned-strength-machine—he retained his awesome sense of right vs. wrong, as well as his habit of standing up to Big Bads everywhere.
Heroism Doesn't Need a Cool Shield
After all, that's what makes a hero a hero: not the power, but how he chooses to use it.
Having been a little guy for most of his life, good ol' Cap's ready to stand by the little guy now. The outsider knows what it's like to stand alone, to get beaten down, and to not have anyone looking out for them. And now that he's got a body like a jacked-up NFL player, he's going to make sure the little guy always has someone standing up for them.
Even if he's not always sure he can do it, he's going to try.
Evidence? We've got that. Just check out the scene between Cap. America and the waitress he meets outside of Tony Stark's building in New York. She's an average Jill—a harried woman trying to make a living. But Cap doesn't treat her like an underling. He doesn't look down on her.
He calls her "ma'am," when she addresses him. And when the aliens start doing their nefarious "take down Manhattan" thing, he's the guy who stands between them and her…because nobody else is gonna.
Don't think all that goes unnoticed:
WAITRESS: What, that this is all somehow their fault? Captain America saved my life. Wherever he is, and wherever any of them are, I would just… I would want to say thank you.
That's not only a standard "grateful citizen" quote (which you get a lot of in superhero movies), it represents a personal connection from one former little person to another.
Taking him out of time makes him even more of an outsider… he can't relate to anyone here in the 21st century, and everyone he ever knew or loved has died. (Again, with the exception of Bucky, who pops up in subsequent Captain America movies.)
We see that in the beginning of the movie as he's punching bags all by himself and basically hiding from a world that he just doesn't get. In the beginning of The Avengers, Fury finds Rogers still coming to grips with the fact that he spent sixty years frozen in the Arctic ice.
STEVE ROGERS: When I went under, the world was at war. I wake up, they say we won. They didn't say what we lost.
NICK FURY: We've made some mistakes along the way. Some, very recently.
STEVE ROGERS: Are you here with a mission, sir?
NICK FURY: I am.
STEVE ROGERS: Trying to get me back in the world?
NICK FURY: Trying to save it.
That may be the biggest obstacle Captain America has to overcome in The Avengers: he needs to find out how he fits into this new world. And—bonus—he realizes that the parts of himself he thought were outdated turn out to still be pretty useful after all.
Stars and Stripes Forever
STEVE ROGERS: The uniform? Aren't the stars and stripes a little... old-fashioned?
PHIL COULSON: With everything that's happening, the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old-fashioned.
Captain America's around to remind this cynical world what it means to stand up for a principle. Even as his status as a square peg gets amplified—those stars and stripes are pretty retro—so too does his reputation as a guy who does the right thing no matter what.
Because he's still not scared of the bullies…and he's still going to look after the little guy.
That pays big dividends at the end, when the aliens come pouring through the breach above Manhattan and masters of the universe like Thor and Iron Man are standing paralyzed in their tracks. They're used to being on top of the world. They're used to handling everything that comes their way. And when something bigger than they are lands to start mixing things up, they're a little overwhelmed.
But Cap? Cap's been overwhelmed his whole life. That gives him the strength to look the threat in the eye and say, "Not today, suckers."
Everyone else sees an unstoppable alien army, but Cap sees just another gang of bullies… and that gives him the strength to remind the other heroes how it's done: by rolling up his sleeves and getting to work.
And they respond to this. Even Iron Man, who never really liked him, conceded that he's the guy to make the call when the aliens show up:
IRON MAN: Call it, Captain.
If Captain America can figure it out, then maybe the rest of the world can too. And maybe that 98-pound weakling who never gave up can finally find the respect and belonging he deserves.
Captain America's Timeline